Seger’s 15 points lead Warren JFK

February 28, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

By Jon moffett

Every coach knows that it takes all 32 minutes to win a high school basketball game.

And while Warren JFK High coach Shawn Pompelia paid attention to all of the minutes of Monday’s sectional semifinal contest against Bloomfield High, he was most concerned with the first dozen.

“We wanted to play our starters for about 12 minutes tonight and give them a good run,” Pompelia said. “I wanted to see them get on this floor, get some shots up and see how they looked.”

The Eagles (7-15) looked good as they were able to end Bloomfield’s season 66-41 at the Warren Harding High gymnasium. The Eagles will face Maplewood in the sectional final on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Pompelia wanted to see how his team would fare after a big win against Cleveland Central Catholic. And his squad didn’t disappoint against the overmatched Cardinals (2-17) who dressed just nine players.

Each starter scored for the Eagles with junior guard Robert Seger leading the way with 15. Sophomore forward Chandler Diles proved to be a capable complement, adding 12.

“Really, tonight was about getting up and down the floor, playing hard, getting some minutes and giving all your effort in the time that you have on the floor,” Pompelia said. “And our younger guys got some good minutes as well.”

The Eagles dominated the game from the opening tip. And a 10-2 run to start the game set the pace or a 22-7 first quarter. Bloomfield broke the double-digit point mark with just under four minutes to go in the second quarter.

But a strong run late in the half brought the Cardinals back. The Eagles took a 33-18 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Warren JFK opened the third quarter on a 14-2 run to extinguish any hopes of a Bloomfield comeback.

But that didn’t stop Bloomfield’s Chris Whitman from having another stellar night.

The junior guard posted a game-high 27 points, and at one point had 20 of the team’s 27 points. Teammate Matt Hennessey added 12, but the team got only two points — a field goal by Tyler Plizga — out of the other three starters.